ETHICS M3

• A non sequitur is an argument in which the conclusion simply does not follow from the premises.
• Ultimate aim of Ethics is to provide

  a.) systematic explanations; and

  b.)well-grounded arguments regarding ethical questions.
• Metaethics inquires about the nature and methodology of moral judgments.
• Relativism doubts the existence of universal, absolute moral values. Its basic claim is that morality is created by humans. As such, morality is relative to particular individuals, societies, or cultures.
• Subjectivism doubts the objectivity of moral statements. Its basic claim is that moral statements are merely descriptions of our subjective states. Thus, morality is and is a matter of personal choice.
• Emotivism doubts that reason plays a significant role in morality. Its basic claim is that ethical judgments are just the expression of our emotions. Morality is a matter of personal feelings.
• Normative Ethics involves arriving at moral standards that regulate right and wrong conduct. In a sense, it is a search for an ideal litmus test of proper behavior.
• Normative Ethics refers to all diverse ethical formulations of general and universal concepts and principles which serve as foundation of morality.
• Applied Ethics is a field of ethics that deals with ethical questions specific to a professional, disciplinary, or practical field.
• Ethics as a practical science deals with systematized body of knowledge that may be applied to human actions.
• Ethics as a normative science establishes norms for the regulation and direction of human actions.
• Ordinarily, they (morality and ethics) refer to social or cultural standards and principles by which we customarily judge things as right, wrong, good, and bad.
• Etiquette is the customary code of polite behavior in society or amongmembers of a particular profession or group.
• Technical valuation - Refers to the proper way (right way) of doing things;
• Aesthetics refers to the judgments of personal approval or disapproval that we make about what we see, hear, smell, or taste.
• Positive Law- refers to different rules and regulations that are posited orput forward by an authority figure that require compliance.
• Divine Law refers to laws derived from a transcendent source.
• Natural Law - the moral standards that govern human behavior are, in some sense, objectively derived from the nature of human beings and the nature of the world. It does not refer to the laws of nature, the laws that science aims to describe.
• Divine Command theory is the view that morality is somehow dependent upon God, and that moral obligation consists in obedience to God’s commands.
• Psychological Egoism - The ego or the self has its desires and interests, and all our actions are geared toward satisfying these interests.
• Ethical egoism claims that one morally ought to perform some action if and only if, and because, performing that action maximizes my self-interest.
• Moral issue - a situation that calls for moral valuation.
• There is moral dilemma when an individual can only choose from a number of possible actions, and there are compelling ethical reasons for various choices.
• Moral theory a systematic attempt to establish the validity of maintaining certain moral principles.
• Framework is a theory of interconnected ideas, and at the same time a structure through which we can evaluate our reasons for valuing a certain decision or judgment.